Apparatus for forming fuel charges for internal-combustion engines



Sept. 23. 1924. 1,509,426

, N. B. GREGG, JR

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FUEL CHARGES FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Oct. 15 l9l9 avwanl oz I amnwu Patented Sept. 23, 1924.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Nonms B. GREGG, an, or sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Application filed October 13, 1919. Serial No. 330,189..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORRIS B. GREGG, Jr.,

. a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented new and usefulIm rovements in Apparatus for Forming Fuel harges for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to internal combustion engines, and resides particularly in a new method of forming fuel charges for such devices, and in. an arrangement of apparatus whereby such method may be practiced, and whereby fuel charges having an increased effectiveness may be formed for use in an internal combustion engine.

One object of the invention is the provision of a method of forming an explosive fuel charge in gaseous or vapor form, which may be employed in internal combustion engines of various types and forms, and which charge will possess such superior effectiveness as to materially reduce the amount of fuel necessary A further object of'the invention is the provision of such a method of forming fuel charges which may be racticed without requiring radical modi cations .of internal combustion engine equipment of types generally in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of forming fuel charges which will be effective to maintain practical uniformity in the char es formed, and at the same time be suscepti le of suitable variation to secure the desired variations in charges to meet different conditions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of forming fuel charges whereby energy of the fuel now lost in the exhaustion of the hot burned gases is conserved by utilization thereof to form a more efiective fuel charge. I

More specifically stated, an object of th invention is the provision of a method of forming fuel charges by the combination of a hydrocarbon an air mixture with superheated steam at a suitable temperature to produce an explosive charge for an internal combustionengine havino an effectiveness much greater than that of the hydrocarbon and air mixtures now commonly employed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus whereby fuel charges having greatly increased effectiveness may for a given amount of work.

be formed for and in conjunction with the operation of an internal combustion engine,

and supplied to the engine to accomplish the operation thereof.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus by operation of which the several ob'ects hereinbefore specified may be attained.

Other and further objects of my invention will be pointed out hereinafter b reference to the accompanying drawings orming a part of the specification, or will be indicated in the appended claims, or will be ob- Viousupon an understanding of the illustrative disclosure of the invention herein contained; it being understood that the disclosure herein made is simply for the purpose of illustration, and is not definitive of the great variety of ways in which the method may be practiced, or the great range of practical forms in which the apparatus may be embodied.

escribed generally, the invention resides in the production of superheated steam either independently of the engine which is to utilize the charge, or by utilization of the heat of exhausted gases from the engine, and combining steam so formed, at a temperature at or above 600 F. with proper proportions of a hydrocarbon fuel and air to produce a new fuel charge in gaseous or vap'orous form, and supplying such charge to the engine.

Described generally, an apparatus in which my invention may be embodied includes a chamber, in which superheated steam may be combined with air and a hydrocarbon fuel, which chamber is arranged to be supplied with .air and a hydrocarbon fuel from a suitable source, either separately or mixed, and with steam from a heat ex change unit,preferably disposed in the passage for exhaust gases from the engine,- for accomplishing the production of steam. The apparatus may include also a compression device for supplying water to the heat exchange unit, and a compression device for supplying the air and hydrocarbon fuel to the chamber against the steam pressure. The practice of the method and an arrangement of the apparatus may be more definitely understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows diagrammatically an internal combustion engine in sectional elevation with the charge An inlet port 6 associated with the inlet.

valve provides a way through which fuel char may be supplied to the valve 4. for

admission to the combustion chamber 2, and

an exhaust port! associated with the exhaust valve provides a wa of exit for exhaust gases from the com ustion' chamber.

In the case of a multicylinder engine, the ports 6 may be supplied from a manifold,

' and the ports 7 may discharge into an exhaust manifold. Associated with the supply port 6, or all of them,-is a mixing chamber 8, and associated with the ort 7, or all of them, is a heat exchange c amber 9. The walls of the heat exchange chamber 9 form a casing or enclosure for the heat exchan e unit 11, which may be in the form of a c011,

or a similar arrangement designed to provide a sulficient heat distribution surface. This heat exchange unit is designed to ac= oolnmodate free flow of fluid through it, and is of proper construction to sustain heavy pressures. A suitable pump 15, sup-plied roma storage source 17, is designed to feed water to the heat exchange unit 11 against the pressure therein, and a. suitable checkvalve 19 is disposed to prevent the backing drocarbon fuel from a. suita up of pressure from the heat exchange unit 11 into the pump and itssupply line. A steam line 21 which is designed to carry the requisite pressure. is disposed to conduct steam from the heat exchange unit 11 to the mixing chamber 8, and a suitable throttle valve 25 is operable to secure desired varia tion in or regulation of the supply of steam to the mixing chamber. a

A carbureting device suitable to produce a vaporous admixture of air and hydrocarbon fuel may be rovided and may be of any of various efl ctive forms of such devices now known in the art. Such'carbu'reting device is diagrammatically illustrated at 10, and is-arranged for the reception of hyle storage source 12, and ofair through the intake 14. In operation the carbureting device 10 is designed to secure a vaporous admixture of hydrocarbon fuel and air in desired proportions determinable by adjustment of the means for regulating the feed of fuel and of air. The feedi and commingling of the liquid fuel and 8.11 is induced through a gas conduit '16 by means of a suitable suction device or'pum 18. This pump is effective to supply the ydrocarbon-air mixture into a chamber 8 under pressure, said su ply being may be provided"with a suitable sump 24,

whereby liquid products produced by the combination of superheated steam and gas mixture may be collected and discharged from the mixing chamber. The heat exchange chamber 9 likewise may be provided with a suitable sump 23 for the collection and discharge of any water condensed onthe heat exchan e unit 11. The ump 18 is bypassed by a ranch 26 which is controlled by a valve 28, and, through which branch the gas mixture may be conducted directly from the gas line 16 to the chamber 8 without going through the pump.

In operation, t e engine maybe started in the customary fashion in which internal combustion engines are started, the valve 28 being open and the rotation of the crank shaft accomplishing the operation of the piston to draw an explosive charge into the combustion chamber, compress it therein, through the cus-' and accomplish its firing tomary ignition mechanism. Durin such operation the adjustment of the vave 25 may be such as to prevent admission of fluid into the chamber 8 from! the line 21. The exhaust as discharged from the cylinders into the c in mber 9 is effective upon the heat exchange unit 11 to flash the water therein into steam and superheat it to a degree snfiicient to maintain its temperature in excess of 600 F. after combination with the fuel mixture. This condition havin been arrived at, and determined by suita le inspection or indicating means, such as the test cook 27, the valve 28 may be closed and the valve 25 opened so that the steam and the fuel mixture may be supplied to the chamber 8 under pressure of the pumps and 18 res ectively, in proper proportions determina 10 by adjustment of the valves and 25. In the chamber 8 the steam and fuel combine to form a fuel char e, the original temperature of the steam aving been sufliciently great to maintain the temperature of the steam at a proper degree to accomplish its combining with the fuel mixture at a temperature in excess of 600 F. The conjunction of the steam and hydrocarbon gas mixture at this temperature enables a combination of their contained elements which is productive of an explosive char having a ydrogen content far in excess 0 that of the ori inal'hydrocarbonand air mixture, and. which therefore is of increased combustibil ity and eflectiveness in the L production of power when utilized in the engine.

The charge so formed is of greatly increased combustibility and it therefore permits a material reduction in the amount of fuel requisite for production of any given quantity of power.

It is to be understood, of course, that the accompanying illustration of apparatus is entirely diagrammatic and it is not intended to be indicative of the requisite size or particular arrangement of parts which may be selected as the most practical or effective. It is to be understood, moreover, that my invention is not limited to the production of the superheated steam by the utilization of the waste heat in the products of combustion of the fuel, but that the steam may be produced or superheated in other fashions. Nor is it to be understood that the invention is limited to any particular means or place for the admixture of the various components entering into the fuel charge, as such, obviously, may vary with different ty es of engines and different kinds of fuel The appended claims particularly pointing out the method constituting my invention will be understood, therefore, as comprehending its practice by means of anyand all suitable apparatus and materials, and those specifying the ap aratus are to be understood as comprehen ing all species and varieties of arrangements of means cffective to accomplish the result hereinbefore described. d

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for forming fuel charges for internal combustion engines, the combination of .a source of hydrocarbon' fuel supply, means for generating superheatcd steam under pressure, a chamber arranged for the reception of fluid from said source and said means, means for 'inducing pressure upon fluid supplied from said source to said chamber, and means for unlt.

3. The combination with an internalcombustion engine of a heat exchange unit disposed in an exhaust passage of said engine, means for supplying fluid to said heat exchange unit, a chamber arranged for the reception of steam from said heat exchange unit under pressure, means for supplying a fuel gas under pressure to said chamber, and means for conducting fluid from said chamber to the explosion chamber of the engine.

4. In combination with an internal combustion engine, a source of fuel supply, a source of water supply, a heat exchange unit supplied from said last mentioned sourceand arranged for the generation of superheated steamunder pressure, and means for supplying fuel from the source of fuel supply and superheated steam from the heat exchange unit to the combustion chamber of the engine under pressure 5. In a hydrocarbon engine, the combination of a supply of hydrocarbon fuel, means for supplying said fuel to a mixing chamber under pressure, means for eneratmg superheated-steam, and means or supplying the superheated steam under pressure to the same mixing chamber.

. NORRIS B. GREGG, JR. 

